BCS Introduces Radical Changes To Structure & Purpose

The British Computer Society (BCS) is refurbishing its assessment procedure for the UK’s Chartered IT Professional (CITP) certifications, with the intention of tailoring the professionals’ qualifications to the industry’s business technology requirements.

The group is revamping its strategy and introducing host of new measures to make the IT certification courses more suitable to contemporary business technology environments.

Among its most noticeable measures, the BCS is opening an Academy of Computing, kicking off a new networking group, expanding globally, updating its website and launching a new job site, as well as tweaking its qualifications.

The organisation believes that the proposed changes would help it dealing with as many as six prime issues, including digital divide, ineffective information management, information vulnerability, IT skills shortages, IT project failures, and ambiguity about taking IT certification as a career.

It is now focusing hard on the concept of ‘green IT’, with the organisation is introducing a foundation certificate in green IT, along with a new practitioner certificate for data centres.

Discussing the new strategy, David Clarke, chief executive for the BCS, said: “Our goal is to transform the value we offer our members and other key communities. Over the next 12 months, we will introduce a wide range of new qualifications, products and services designed to do this”.

Our Comments

The BCS is 52 years old and is doing all it can to keep in touch with the realities of the market. Its ambitions it seems are likely to be unabated by the current economic crisis. In addition, it is also changing its name by adding “Chartered Institute for IT” to it.